Actress struggled with nurse before jumping to her death

Pauline Chan Po-lin struggled with a nurse who tried desperately to hold the Hong Kong actress back before she jumped from the 24th floor of a Shanghai apartment building, police investigators said yesterday.

The 29-year-old former Miss Asia beauty pageant contestant plunged to her death late on Wednesday afternoon dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, according to neighbours. She had given birth to a son just three weeks ago.

Police cordoned off the Nanyang Building, an ageing apartment block behind the glitzy Ritz Carlton Portman Hotel, as crowds of curious onlookers gathered outside.

'Falling all that way. It's too terrible to imagine,' said an elderly man in the crowd.

The window of the apartment where she had been staying for the past few months was still open.

Police confirmed that Chan was killed in a fall and that her body had been taken for an autopsy at an undisclosed location. In a brief statement, police also said Chan had spoken to relatives on the telephone before leaping to her death.

A nurse, hired by Chan to take care of her infant son born in Shanghai last month, tried to prevent her from jumping. Neighbours said the nurse had only been in the job for a few days.